Chinese Family Plays New Role in Community

SAN DIEGO — In a split-level home in Tierrasanta, which he shares with his wife and daughter, David Hu is serving jasmine tea from a white and blue teapot hand-carried from Kin Men, Taiwan.

Light mist is falling outside and the tops of trees and hills are draped with layers of fog like fine silk. A small gas fire is going in the fireplace. One orange-red rose is in a vase on the piano. Three scrolls of Chineses calligraphy grace the walls and a jade-colored 150-year-old vase and other Chinese artifacts sit on a shelf near the brick hearth. Three paintings by Hu's father, who was a professor of fine arts in Taiwan and the founder of the Chinese Watercolor Society, hang near the dining table and the couch.

In a short while, Ping Hu comes in after teaching a course at UC San Diego, where she is a lecturer in the Chinese Studies Program in charge of the language program.

The Hus have been in San Diego for 10 years. Both came from Taiwan and met in Michigan when David Hu was working for the Michigan Highway Department and Ping was a communications major at Michigan State University.

The Hus are in some ways representative of part of the changing scene of the Chinese-American community in San Diego. Professional and well-educated, they blend their ancient culture with modern technology and opportunity.

David Hu first came to Fort Collins, Colo., 23 years ago at age 23 to work on a master's degree. After working in Michigan, he went to the University of Wisconsin in Madison and received a doctorate in mechanical engineering.

Hu is now an engineering supervisor for San Diego Gas & Electric and teaches part-time at San Diego State University.

He beams when he speaks of teaching. "I love that. I like working with the young people. The Chinese say you learn from your students. And also you show your students by example. What is behind the book is important," he said.

For several years the Hus' friends were those they had known in school. "We saw mostly about 10 people who came from our area of Taiwan," David Hu said. "But then I thought, that's not good enough. I decided I wanted to do something that had to do with a larger community."

So in November, 1983, he and three other Chinese professionals founded the San Diego Chinese-American Scientists and Engineers Assn. Hu was the first president. Now he is chairman of the board, and the president is Alex Chung.

"One hundred seventy belong to the organization and 70% are U.S. citizens," Hu said. "Now we want to attract all professions--human behavior, language, social sciences. The organization also includes a few Caucasian members.

"We try to do something for the community in which we live, to exchange culture between our great countries--to stretch our horizons.

"The Chinese community in San Diego is much different than it was 50 years ago."

This change he attributes to the influx of Chinese professionals, along with the number of Chinese and Chinese-Vietnamese students at UC San Diego.

As a way to bring the San Diego Chinese community together, Hu coordinated a Chinese New Year celebration in February. Approximately 350 San Diego Chinese-Americans attended, by invitation only, many of them community leaders. "The second- and third-generation Chinese and also newer immigrants attended," Hu said.

In his speech at the affair, Hu said: "We came here because of the railroad. We've come a long way, baby. The old generation and the new immigrants. There is a changing image of the Chinese-American. We're proud to be Chinese."

On Feb. 20 the San Diego Historical Society opened its show of artifacts of the early Chinese in San Diego. Hu met Joseph Quin, grandson of Ah Quin, founder of San Diego's Chinese community.

"He is a very wonderful gentleman," Hu said. "I do very much appreciate the pioneers of our Chinese ancestry here. These early settlers had different objectives than we have now. They came here to work and save money and to support their families. There was not much choice then. They owned laundries, restaurants, tried to be peaceful and self-content. We respect these people so much. We respect the tradition and the age. Experience is very important.

"Today, Chinese are selecting this country as the best place for technology. People are seeking opportunity and a chance to contribute to society. Any university above the state university level has one to 20 Chinese professors.

"One of the best things about Western culture is that it is open-hearted, and absorbs all cultures. No other place has such opportunities. All systems have their inertia, though. We know that. There is still discrimination, but we don't want to generate adverse animosity. The Chinese philosophy is to be open-minded, patient and understanding.